One day later...
After a night in the village of Ihk, Seth's party set out at dawn for Lastwood.
Lastwood was a month away from the village, traveling on common horses. But Seth's group wasn't on horseback, so their speed could get them there in less time.
That was a city of just over 20,000 people, a small place according to Ihk, but many times larger than anything Seth's group had ever seen.
They wouldn't find the whole truth of this world there. But Lastwood would be a good starting point for them to integrate into mainland society and learn things they couldn't in the village.
Ihk knew the place, so he had helped Seth make a map of the city with the most important places for them to pass through. He had also given the remnants of the Misty Woods Tribe some coins to help them begin their journey.
But it wasn't out of pure gratitude. Seth's people had helped a lot in the village, even though they had gotten a lot of answers there.
But these coins weren't many. For a group of 20, they wouldn't last more than two days in a city like Lastwood!
...
By the end of the afternoon of a long day's travel, Seth's group had made it halfway to Lastwood!
In less than 24 hours, they had covered a distance that would take horses 15 days of traveling to reach!
If Ihk's group in that village found out about this, everyone would be shocked!
But for the people traveling with Seth, this was no big deal. They had only run moderately from the time they left the village until now!
If it came to a fight, even the weakest of them would be able to move faster than they had in those hours.
In addition to their unique abilities, almost all of the members of the Mist Woods Tribe had powerful bodies, were very fast, and had good vitality.
The youngest member of this group was about 16 years old, while the oldest was over 2,000 years old!
The tribe of this group had existed on Giant Island for countless of thousands of years!
Anyway, after a long journey so far, they had decided to stop to rest and eat.
The majority of the group could continue their journey, but just as the younger ones needed time to regain their energy, almost all of them were in the habit of meditating.
That was a habit taught to the young people of the tribe at the age of 3, something most of them did until their last days in this world.
It wasn't just a habit. It was a challenge everyone set for themselves. Achieving the highest level of concentration during meditation and reaching the Spiritual Apogee was the goal and desire of every tribe member.
According to those who had become the First Elder of the tribe for generations, reaching the Spiritual Apogee would be like transcending the mortal world, leaving all doubts behind, and becoming perfect.
Someone in this state would be invincible in their art, would know all the answers to their questions, and could even transcend life and death.
But these weren't just the words of the ancestors. Within the tribe, there were countless reports of so-called "supernatural" things happening to elders who reached high levels of concentration during their meditation time.
There was a particular case of a First Elder who had lived for 10,000 years and died during his meditation. His heart had stopped beating when he reached the maximum that his vitality could take him. Still, even after his blood dried up and his body changed, the energy fluctuation that came from his meditation continued.
It lasted for almost 100 years, and the chaotic energy of his surroundings would attack anyone who approached his body.
That was true for the weakest who approached him. For the strongest who tried to meditate near this ancestor, some of them had visions of this First Elder, talked to him, and even received orders from him years after his death!
At that time, for the first and only time in the entire history of the tribe, the First Elder had led the tribe until about 100 years after his death!
It was only after 100 years that his spiritual fluctuations finally disappeared.
There were other strange cases in the tribe's history, so everyone believed in this practice and followed it intending to reach the Apogee.
So, if you were to pass by the southernmost part of the Belletham Timberland today, you would see a group of 20 people meditating at different points in an area of more than 10 square kilometers.
Some of them meditated in caves, some in the treetops, and some in other places they liked.
All of them, without exception, were meditating deeply in this forest that was dangerous for many people in the province.
Ihk hadn't recommended that they always keep a lookout during their meditation, as it seemed too obvious to him...
But for these people, if they weren't taught about such things, they would simply follow what they did on the Giant Island.
There were creatures on that island that could cause them problems. But none of them would ever bother them while they were meditating, so even in the middle of the forest, in the middle of the night, they could take their time and search for Apogee there without worrying.
Would it be like that on the mainland?
They didn't know, but while they meditated, creatures of various kinds watched them from the shadows of the trees, hidden or lurking in this dark forest.
Those further away looked at them with strange eyes as if they didn't understand what was going on. But those closest to the meditation area of those 20 people felt something completely different.
'What is this?' One person sleeping in a nearby cave thought to himself as he opened his eyes and awoke from his dream to feel a frightening pressure coming from nearby.
He checked his security devices around him and noticed no one had come near his resting place.
After noticing the obvious, he grabbed a sword and moved to the entrance of the cave to spy on what was happening.
The sensation he felt was like 10 or 15 Saints meeting in the middle of the forest and having a spiritual contest.
When he looked at the people meditating at different places in the forest, this tall, strong man opened his mouth and his eyes wide, and he saw huge columns of energy vibrating around those people.
His hand holding a sword trembled, and he grabbed it with both hands so as not to drop it, disbelieving his eyes.
'What the hell is this?' He asked himself, shocked by the power each of these people had cultivated. 'What are these geniuses doing in poor Belletham Timberland? Is there an unimaginable conspiracy developing in the Vridor Dynasty?
Damn it, I've got to find a way to survive this! Then I'll go back to the clan and tell them to cancel all our plans for this province!'
While this man was trembling with fear, a large winged creature suddenly appeared in the sky and quickly approached where these people were meditating.
As it approached the group, Seth opened his eyes while standing on the top of a tree, on one of its highest side branches.